Command line interface has traditionally been one of the preferred interfaces of network operators. Many network operators prefer to work with command line interfaces due to the raw commands they are able to issue and due to the feel of direct access to network devices command line interface is able to provide to the network operators. As of result, device manufacturers generally try to make sure that their devices provide a form of command line interface.
However, despite its popularity with network operators, command line interface has a drawback in terms of its ability to display graphical objects. For example, when a response/output from a device is in the form of a table, a graph, a map, or a topology, it is often difficult for a network operator to view and interpret the response/output due to the limitations of displaying graphical objects in a command line interface.
In response, some conventional management applications provide a graphical user interface in place of the command line interface for allowing the network operator to access a network device. Nevertheless, these conventional graphical user interfaces often do not give the network operator a feeling of working with the network device directly as opposed to when they work with command line interfaces. To exacerbate the problem, frequently traditional graphical user interfaces are slow, more complex to use, and involve more trouble shooting as compared to command line interfaces.